Plant Profile: Beavertail Cactus

One of our favorite things about spring is when the cactus begin to bloom. Cactus blooms are stunning and very special to see. Cactus truly reward you with a remarkable display of one-of-kind flowers and beavertail (opuntia basilaris) does not disappoint. We have several plants in our yard and have grown them for many years. They are native to our area, so that makes them even more special and we just love their unique paddle color and incredible blossoms. 

Description of Beavertail Cactus

These beautiful cacti are called beavertail because their pretty blueish/gray paddles that have a similar shape to a beaver’s tail. During dry periods the paddles will have a pleasing purple tint. As if the unique color of the paddles were not interesting enough, each spring the cacti put on an amazing flower show with the most vibrant hot pink flowers I have ever seen. The bees absolutely love the flowers and go crazy. After the cacti are done blooming the flowers will turn into fruit that the birds love. I have noticed that our native, wild rabbits love them as well. We have even had people stop and ask to collect the fruit for their pet tortoises. Another interesting fact about beavertail cactus paddles is that most varieties are spineless and only have small bristles. Still be careful when working with beavertail cactus paddles because even though they do not have spines, the tiny bristles that will get stuck in your skin and will become very irritating. I have a pen light and tweezers that I like to use. The pen light helps me see the tiny hair-like bristles and the tweezers help to pull them out. If you get the bristles stuck in you, they will not stop itching until you get them out. One helpful tip when handling cactus paddles with bristles is to water down or dampen the paddles. This is supposed to keep the bristles from loosening, floating around and getting stuck where they do not belong!

History of Beavertail Cactus

The fruit from the beavertail cactus were a favorite staple among the Cahuilla Native American tribe. The Cahuilla tribes lived in the southern California deserts of San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains. The buds were cooked or steamed and the large seeds were ground into a mush. Young paddles were cooked on hot stones in a fire pit for several hours.

The Panamint Shoshone (now known as Timbisha Shoshone) Native American tribe from the Death Valley region would harvest young paddles, clean and dry them to store for future use. Later on they would boil the paddles for a snack. The seeds were ground and used as flour. Older paddles were used to dress wounds. The pulp was also used for bruises, bites and sores.

The Diegueno Native American tribe from the region along the Mexican and Californian borders, cleaned and dried the paddles for eating later on.

The Kawaiisu (Tehachapi region) and Tubatulabal (Kern River Valley in the Sierra Nevada Range) Native American tribes cooked and ate the buds.

The Five Varieties of Beavertail Cactus

1. Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris – most common
2. Opuntia basilaris var. brachyclada – little beavertail prickly pear

• This variety is a California endemic, entirely restricted to the Transverse Ranges between San Diego and San Bernardino counties.

3. Opuntia basilaris var. heilii – Heil’s beavertail
4. Opuntia basilaris var. longiareolata – elongated beavertail prickly pear or Grand Canyon beavertail prickly pear

• This variety is listed as a conservation concern.

5. Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei – Trelease’s beavertail prickly pear or Bakersfield cactus.

• This variety is designated endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act and California Endangered Species Act.
• This is the only variety that has spines.
• For an interesting read and more facts on why this cactus is considered endangered please visit Bakersfield Cactus.

Beavertail Cactus Care

Taking care of a beavertail cactus is very easy. They are very low maintenance and require very little water. I like to water mine once a week if they are a new plant but after that the water requirements are very little. In the middle of summer when the temperatures are high, I will water our cactus once a week but most of the year the cactus gets watered about once to twice a month. This winter we received quite a bit of rain so I did not water our cactus at all and all their paddles are very full.

Beavertail cactus enjoy full sun but will tolerate partial shade. They like well draining soil and will not tolerate wet soil for long periods of time and may develop root rot.

Beavertail cactus are very cold hardy, down to 0 degrees fahrenheit. This is very nice because they can be kept outside year round. They grow very well in a pot or in the ground. Most of ours are in the ground. 

Fertilizing is not necessary, making them even easier to care for. If you would like to fertilize them, then use a diluted, water soluble solution in the spring.

Beavertail Cactus are virtually disease free, deer and rabbit proof. We have a lot of wild rabbits in our yard and they enjoy the cactus fruit throughout the winter but they have never eaten the paddles. 

The cactus paddles may become shriveled during the hot summer months. Do not worry if this happens to your plant. It is fine and just water a little more but do not over water. I have noticed that sometimes it takes growing through the winter months for the paddles to perk back-up.

Propagation

When working with beavertail cactus it can be easy to become less vigilant about getting stickers on you since they are spineless. What they lack in spines, they make up for in glochids. These are tiny, hair-like spines that you can easily brush up against and have hundreds of them stuck in your skin. Remember my tip mentioned above about damping the paddles to prevent and reduce the amount of bristles loosening and getting stuck on you. Glochids are considered a skin irritant and sometimes I think they are worse to deal with than the larger cactus spines. If this happens to you, just use some tweezers to help remove them. 

Quick Facts: Beavertail Cactus

I hope you have enjoyed learning more about beavertail cactus and want to add this beautiful cactus to your garden!

Happy desert gardening!

Joy Simper has a full time job as a home schooling stay at home mom. She is the one that holds the house and yard together and keeps the kids in line. She enjoys gardening, including seed starting and propagating plants.